Summary of the day
Alexander De Croo, the Belgian prime minister, has addressed the farmers’ protests, noting that “a lot of the concerns they have are legitimate concerns.”
The Belgian leader said farmers are facing a “lasagne of different measures” and “we need to see how we sequence certain things better.”
Farmers blocked several roads on the border between Belgium and the Netherlands.
Farmers met with officials from the Flemish government to discuss their demands.
The Greek prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, said that his country will extend a special tax rebate on agricultural diesel by a year.
Marc Fesneau, the French agriculture minister, said that the most visible part of the crisis is behind us but the issues that emerged in this crisis are still before us.
The Hungarian government reiterated that Sweden’s prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, should visit Hungary before parliament votes on Sweden’s Nato bid.
Updated
The week-long farmers’ protests may be abating in Belgium, but they have had a knock-on impact on supermarket supplies, according to local reports.
Unlike some other parts of Europe, supermarkets are closed on Sunday and in the evenings, so stocks are usually at peak for Saturday’s big shop.
Empty shelves have been reported in some Colruyt stores, with shortages of milk, baby food and staples such as pasta reported elsewhere.
In the Ottingies-Louvain-La Neuve branch, notices apologised for shortages caused by “roadblocks following the movement of farmers”, which included a blockade of the Zeebrugge port earlier this week.
De Tijd newspaper reports shortages of fruit and meat in the Delhaize store in Jette on the outskirts of Brussels.
“It is not surprising that there are shortages, because our warehouses for dry food have been blocked since Tuesday evening,” Colruyt spokesperson Silja Decock told the paper.
“Our fresh produce warehouse in Halle was also blocked on Thursday evening, although the blockage has now been lifted. However, there will be large gaps in several stores in the coming days.”
Updated
'The ball is in your court', Hungary tells Sweden
The Hungarian government today reiterated that Sweden’s prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, should visit Hungary before parliament votes on Sweden’s Nato bid.
Hungary remains the only member of the alliance which has yet to ratify Sweden’s accession, fuelling frustration in western capitals.
❗️The ball is in your court @SwedishPM... pic.twitter.com/mMANsoydzo
— Zoltan Kovacs (@zoltanspox) February 2, 2024
Updated
Farmers face 'lasagne of different measures', Belgian leader says
Belgian prime minister Alexander De Croo arrived in Place du Luxembourg just as a bronze statue that was felled in the protests yesterday was being taken away.
The statue, which weighed 200kg, was taken into a van by half a dozen men, as the clean-up in the square continues.
De Croo said he and other leaders had listened to farmers and recognised that they faced “a lasagne of measures” that were putting downward pressure on their incomes and livelihoods.
“We are cleaning up here … it’s good that the city is back to normal. In most places in Belgium the blockades have been stopped, which is good – there’s only a few left,” he said.
He added:
I think, by now, all governments have basically seen them, the Flemish government, the federal government – yesterday also the president of the [European] Commission.
The prime minister also said:
We’ve shown that we’re able to come up with steps in the right direction. For some measures, we need more time to elaborate. And there’s a real willingness to go forward.
Speaking of yesterday’s meeting with farmers’ representatives, he said that “a lot of the concerns they have are legitimate concerns.”
Farmers are facing a kind of “lasagne of different measures, and it all comes at the same time, which is difficult, so we need to see how we sequence certain things better.”
Belgian prime minister Alexander De Croo came down to see statue from Place Lux which came down in farmers protests yesterday in Brussels says farmers face “lasagne of different measures” and govts have to think of getting the “sequencing right” pic.twitter.com/PoUfrPbptU
— Lisa O'Carroll (@lisaocarroll) February 2, 2024
Updated
A smell of charred earth, petrol and burnt tyre rubber hangs over Place du Luxembourg in front of the European parliament, the aftermath of the farmers’ protests yesterday.
Sitting on one of the low walls framing the public square is one of the bronze 19th-century statues brought down during the protests last night.
The blackened statue of a worker holding a cog was one of four on each corner of the plinth on which Belgian-British industrialist John Cockerell still stands.
The statue was found among burning pallets and was being taken away by workers on Friday afternoon.
Updated
Here are images from the border between Belgium and the Netherlands, where farmers are blocking highways.
Greece to extend tax rebate on agricultural diesel in gesture to farmers
The Greek prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, said today that his country will extend a special tax rebate on agricultural diesel by a year, Reuters reported.
The move comes after Greek farmers protested, calling for import controls, lower taxes and cheaper fuel.
Updated
Here's how farmers are responding to EU efforts
Yesterday, the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, met with representatives of farmers’ organisations, together with the prime ministers of the Netherlands and Belgium.
Von der Leyen stressed that “we listen to European farmers” and “they can count on European support”.
After the meeting, Lode Ceyssens, president of the Boerenbond, a farmers’ association representing farmers from Flemish and German-speaking communities in Belgium, said:
Our farmers did not start worrying a few days ago. What our farmers need is trust from the EU, not overregulations. What they need is fair prices for their products, as they are the most sustainable in the world. Our farmers need to have certainty about the future.”
He added:
President von der Leyen told us that she will now go with a very fast agenda to remove red tape for farmers. Within the strategic dialogue we asked her to rebalance the green deal with an Agri Protection Act. If we don’t do it, we will soon need an Agri Restoration Act.
Marianne Streel, president of the Wallonian Agricultural Federation, said the following issues were discussed at the meeting: administrative simplification, the Mercosur agreement, wolves, the EU budget and exemptions from EU rules.
Updated
Why are farmers protesting across the EU and what can the bloc do about it?
Hundreds of tractors choked Brussels city centre on Thursday and angry farmers pelted the European parliament with eggs. Although agriculture was not on the agenda for EU leaders meeting just up the road, politicians may find that they ignore these grievances at their peril.
Farmers’ protests have been sweeping Europe for months – in countries such as Greece, Germany, Portugal, Poland and France, where the government was taken by surprise this week by a motorway blockade of Paris.
Some concerns, such as a plan by Berlin to phase out tax breaks on agricultural diesel to balance the budget, or a requirement in the Netherlands to reduce nitrogen emissions – are country-specific. But many are shared continent-wide.
Farmers have said they face falling sale prices, rising costs, heavy regulation, powerful and domineering retailers, debt, climate change and cheap foreign imports, all within an EU agricultural system based on the premise that “bigger is better”.
Read the explainer here.
Flemish farmers meet with officials
Farmers are meeting with officials from the Flemish government to discuss their demands following this week’s protests, Le Soir reports.
Updated
French minister: visible part of crisis behind us, but issues before us
Marc Fesneau, the French agriculture minister, said this morning that the most “visible” part of the crisis is behind us but that the issues that emerged in this crisis are still before us.
Agriculteurs : "La partie la plus visible de la crise est derrière nous, mais les sujets qui ont émergé sont devant nous" @MFesneau #LaGrandeInterview sur #Europe1 pic.twitter.com/qyxErJTxzJ
— Europe 1 (@Europe1) February 2, 2024
Farmers protest on Belgian-Dutch border
Local authorities said this morning that several border crossings between Belgium and the Netherlands were blocked as farmers protest.
Situatie in Zandvliet: pic.twitter.com/HnhKxVhjYX
— Vlaams Verkeerscentrum (@verkeerscentrum) February 2, 2024
Update: Manifestatie op de #E34 in Postel.
— Vlaams Verkeerscentrum (@verkeerscentrum) February 2, 2024
De snelweg blijft in beide richtingen afgesloten. pic.twitter.com/eW0OHerPXL
Updated
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